BROOKINGS – The South Dakota State men are going back on the road after winning both of their games at Frost Arena last weekend. The Jackrabbits will play three games in five days as they head to St. Thomas Thursday, Western Illinois Saturday and Kansas City on Monday.
The game between SDSU and Kansas is a makeup game as the two teams were supposed to play on Dec. 21, but it was postponed due to weather. This isn’t the first time the Jacks have had to deal with a difficult travel schedule. SDSU played back-to-back road games twice this season and they faced three games in five days last season during conference play due to postponement as well.
SDSU head coach Eric Henderson said those past experiences should help prepare his team for this tough road stretch.
“[Having past experience] helps,” Henderson said. “During the nonconference we had some pretty difficult situations. We played a couple times back-to-back, and I don’t know you remember, but one of those times was against the No. 1 team in the country [ in Alabama], and we bounced back after that Kent State team and fought pretty hard.
“So, our guys are used to pretty tough situations and that’s why we do put ourselves in those situations in the nonconference, to prepare us for situations like this. This is going to be really hard. and we understand that it’s going to be difficult, but that’s how teams get tougher and teams come together.”
The Jacks have won four straight games and sit at 11-9 overall and 6-2 in Summit League play. SDSU is coming off of back-to-back double digit wins over Omaha and Denver, and the Jacks were carried by sophomore guard Zeke Mayo.
Mayo scored 56 points in the two games and shot 56.6% from the field and was 13-22 from three. That performance allowed him to win Summit League Peak Performer of the Week for the second time season, but Mayo did have to come out of the game late against Denver due to a lower body injury.
Mayo was going for a loose ball and a Denver player dove at the ball and rolled up on his leg/ankle. He would not return to the game but Henderson was optimistic after the game and said on Tuesday they hope he can play this weekend.
Since the start of conference play Mayo is averaging 19.1 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.4 assists.
“There’s a lot of things that Zeke has improved on, but the way I look at it is, his maturity, his approach, his consistency [all have improved]. The talent has always been there, it’s just can we understand what we’re getting every single time we step on the floor, and we’re closer to that we’ve ever been. I’ve just been really impressed with how he’s approached, and I think that’s translated to games, and he’s impacting the game in a lot of ways,” Henderson said.
One of the reasons for the recent success in conference play has been the Jackrabbits defense. Since the start of conference play SDSU is giving up 64.6 points per game, which is first in the Summit League. The Jacks have also been shooting the ball a lot better over the past two weeks. SDSU shot 48.9% from three against Denver and Omaha and the Jacks also shot 51.3% from the field in that two-game span.
The SDSU defense will face a tough test on Thursday night as the Jacks will face a St. Thomas team that is tied for second in the conference in scoring, averaging 71.9 points in Summit League play.
UST comes into the game having lost three straight games and now sit in seventh place in the conference at 4-5. The Tommies have found quite a bit of success though in just their second season at the Division I level after jumping from Division III. UST is 13-9 overall and the Tommies were very successful at the DIII level and Henderson said it all starts with the head coach, who’s been there for 12 years.
“Coach [John Tauer] is terrific and they know how to win too. Obviously, I understand it’s different levels, but that understanding of winning is really important, and they won at such a high level at the Division III level, and you don’t just lose that ability to know how to win. So, they have confidence and a belief in themselves and what they do,” Henderson said.
Right now, SDSU sits in second place in the Summit League and is two games back of undefeated Oral Roberts. However, the Jacks do have a 1.5 game lead on Western Illinois and North Dakota State for second place.
SDSU struggled a bit in the nonconference, but that was largely due to the fact that the Jacks played the eighth hardest nonconference schedule in the country. At this time last year, SDSU was 17-4 overall and 8-0 in conference play. Henderson said the biggest difference between this year’s team and last year’s team is health. SDSU has had to play the past 11 games without starting guard Charlie Easley and starting forward Luke Appel played only a few games at the beginning of the season.
Henderson said they expect to get Easley back sometime in the next couple weeks and that’s when you’ll see them play their best basketball.
“Every time we step on the floor, we have expectations to win that game,” Henderson said. “… There’s a lot of things that happen during a season, and sometimes it happens more in other seasons. Last year, we were very fortunate to stay healthy for most of it, and this year, not so much. So, there’s things where you’re not going to battle with a loaded gun and all of your guys. And that doesn’t mean you don’t have a belief or not you’re not going to win that game, but you also understand that probably your best basketball is ahead of you for sure.
“So, we still have that belief that every time we step on the floor we’re going to win and want to win and believe we’re going to win and want to play our best basketball that day, but we’re really excited for [Easley] to join us in a week or two weeks or whatever it is, and we really feel like that makes us better. So, there’s a sense of we’re excited to play this week, but there’s also an understanding of when we’re playing with our full roster, we’re really excited for what’s to come.”
Tip-off between the Tommies and Jackrabbits is scheduled for 7 p.m. and you can watch the game on tommiesports.com. Saturday’s game against WIU is scheduled for 2 p.m. and Monday’s game at Kansas City is scheduled for 7 p.m.
